It’s a long one! The longest yet! Alison Rosen (Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, The Adam Carolla Show) lounges on the rug with Janet to give you an earful of wonderings about the parallel between old-school modems and human emotions, how it feels when your pediatrician recommends you go to a fat camp, and making friends with uncertainty.
Episode 37:
The JV Club
Alison Rosen
Alison Rosen
Love the podcast i look forward to Thursdays every week because of it! i was walking across campus while listening to this episode and laughed really hard when Scott farted i probably looked like a crazy person but it was defiantly worth it.
I *love* getting negative comments.. I’ve got a YT channel of mostly gaming videos, and often get critical-seeming comments, and I love every one of them — they are such a profound opportunity for humor. My favorite kind of humor is the self-deprecating kind, such as when a comic will make fun of himself like Louis CK does often. I love to spin a seemingly-negative remark into an opportunity to criticize myself in a silly way, without swearing as a personal style point, so that it gets voted up and people reading my response might think, “that was a clever way to handle that.”
At a retail store I used to work at, a lot of the other employees would complain to management about how a back warehouse guy was always mean and swore a lot.. so when I had to take something back there one day, he just laid straight into me, “What is this sh–? You didn’t even take the time to put it in order? Now I’ve got to do a bunch of EXTRA WORK because you’re so lazy!” and without missing a beat, bit back with, “I agree.” His sizzling scalp suddenly simmered, and was like, “You agree that you’re a lazy b—-rd?” I retorted, “Yes, if there had been an even lazier, more disorganized way to bring these to you, believe me, I would have done it,” and we really hit it off from there.
A favorite YouTube comment has been “What did you record this with, a toaster?” (referring to the very low quality resolution I had available at the time) and replied back, “a one-slice toaster, that only heated one side of that slice. It had a USB port in it, so I tried to figure out what it was for, and discovered I could play games on it and record them in 240p. Sweet, huh? =P” and my response got big upvotes..
Negative-seeming comments to me are a profound opportunity for humor, and so few people take that grand opportunity. I love the opportunity to thoroughly defuse the heat of a remark with a silly response that makes witnesses giggle..
Loved everything you and Janet had to say. I also enjoy the longer eps…I could listen to your podcasts for hours!
Please never stop talking “too much” Janet!
NEEDED to come into this episode and “weigh” in on the weight thing. You guys definitely touched on the fat hate thing, and I think the main problem with the current approach to the “obesity epidemic” is that there is a lot of emphasis on disordered eating (i.e. anorexic and bulimic practices are “ok” for fat people because it’s worse to be overweight than to have a mental illness) and crash dieting.
I personally think the main thing that we as a society need to not only accept that there are different body types, but that we can indeed listen to our bodies.
A great book to look up is “Health at Every Size” by Linda Bacon. We’d all be a lot healthier if we were able to get back to listening to our own bodies rather than dieting/rebounding etc.
I related to the observations you and Alison made about disliking conflict, shutting down, needing time to process your feelings, seeing both sides of the equation and therefore having difficulty making up your mind, etc. I won’t go so far as to place an uninformed label on either of you, but some light can be shed on these patterns by a personality theory known as the Enneagram. Specifically, these patterns are pertinent to the Type 9 personality, which some authors call the Mediator or Peacemaker. Perhaps it would interest you and Alison to read up on the basics of the Enneagram to add nuance to the therapy you are already practicing? I am finding it helpful, anyway. Though I’m not affiliated with the website, I find enneagraminstitute.com to be a good place to start if you were interested. Regardless, I enjoyed the podcast!
Hi Janet,
I just wanted to say I am a big fan of this show and I have introduced it to many of my cool women friends, cause I only introduce cool things to cool people. Keep doing great work. Also, great episode and I wanted to say there is something very relaxing and soothing when you say “Hi, Guys” at the top of you podcasts. It’s like a good friend saying hi and happy to see you. Cheers.
wonderful episode. Only complaint was that it was too short. I could’ve listened to another hour.
Great episode Janet. You have a good Marc Maron-esque style to your interview, which is a good thing by the way.
You mentioned being open to taking suggestions on guests. I recently came across Lynn Shelton. After reading her wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Shelton), there seems to be so much that went on in her life that she would make for a fascinating interview. Thank you for another wonderful podcast.
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Janet, please don’t worry about episodes running long. As someone who listens to these in the car while driving long stretches, the lengthier the episode the better!
Interesting podcast, Janet and Alison. It was nice to hear some discussion of being the “fat girl” in school. I can definitely relate. A doctor suggested I go on a diet when I was 12, so I joined a teen Weight Watchers group then. Like Alison, I always struggled with my weight, but I was never meant to felt bad about my body. About a year ago, however, I decided that after living most of my life overweight, it was time for me to make a change, and I have lost 100 pounds in that time (no surgeries, no “diets”; just changes). I can say, for me, it’s been interesting getting used to this new body, while at the same time convincing everyone around me that the person is exactly the same. It’s hard to shed (no pun intended) that self-accepted concept that you are the “fat girl” and at times I do feel like I’m putting on a persona, when nothing in my personality has changed.
It’s a tricky subject, weight. A site I enjoyed for many years has shown me that no matter someone’s size (and claims of no bodysnarking), women are still critical of each other’s bodies. I wish this could change, that we can accept that one person’s normal and healthy varies deeply from another person’s. Why is it that the default judgement is always someone’s appearance? I think the focus really needs to be on the feeling associated with healthy and not the numbers.
Also, teenage girls are the worst. I always was amazed about how hot and cold friendships could be in a matter of weeks. I think we all went through something similar…even the popular cliques.
Thanks for sharing!
Well, that meandered a lot…
Actually, I really liked the last 15 minutes of conversation. And I feel like I should share Depression Comix, which is sort of an illustrated guide to depression. I find it helps in processing one’s own issues with such feelings.
Loved this conversation! All the stuff about feelings was so helpful. As a sensitive person, I always feel like I’m overreacting to things.
Hey, fwiw, I, like dogs and cats, think of all people as these funky allopeciac apes who are clever at ripping open kibble bags and opening cans, even if they can be damned slow about it.
Hello back. Clearly, Carolla should have the good sense to keep you on as long as you’re willing, even if you do find yourself giving counterexamples…
Did Todd just call me an ape? What’s going on here? Hi everyone!
You do realize that if you made a podcast that pleased everyone, you’d be the Doritos of podcast?
What makes a podcast interesting is not the guest . The same guest are on every podcast , and they often tell the same stories. The difference is the host. Plain and simple. What you care about is what makes the podcast unique.
Kowalski Lives,
Joseph
Well, on BURNING LOVE there are some cast members (in the first season) more famous than you, anyway (not so much the other two things)…and given the US/PEOPLE papparazzo culture, perhaps that’s not the worst thing.
The notion that you are somehow to be an oracular voice from a box with your guests is an odd one…even most of the commercial network chat shows go all against that…though, of course, I don’t pay any attention, because they aren’t directed at me, to the less than insane criticisms you might receive here…and the insane ones only to the extent that I might pause and shake my head…but between all the other things you’re engaged with, including more cut and dried interviewing for the HuffPo site, thanks for taking the time (and isn’t it odd how our bad experiences shape us so thoroughly, that folks sensitive to negative criticism will believe it more readily than they will even critical praise, much as survivors of abusive experience in youth will often seek out abusive partners, because they think they know where they stand with such people…perhaps your Pottery Barn downer was an example of that dynamic, as you note apparently incapable of believing in a perky person who isn’t scheming against her.)
And it’s my experience that dogs love all apes, or at least some (happy) dogs do, who get down on the floor with them…not to take anything away from your dog’s ability to judge character…
Thanks, folks. And another podcast to look for…
I love that your podcast is a conversation. That’s why it’s fantastic instead of being formal it really allows people to share in a positive supportive environment.
I find your conversational style is refreshing. Maybe you do talk more about yourself than many interviewers, but that is natural in a conversation. So many interviewers are either 1) going to the easy joke and then the resulting interview has no depth or 2) asking “hard” questions and make the guest run through a gauntlet. You offer an enjoyable alternative to those modes. Keep up the good work, and don’t let the occasional critic dissuade you!